/*
 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS HEADER.
 *
 * Copyright (c) 2008-2011, Salzburg Research. All rights reserved.
 *
 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
 * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
 * - Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
 * this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
 * - Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
 * this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
 * and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
 * - Neither the name of the KiWi Project nor the names of its contributors
 * may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
 * without specific prior written permission.
 *
 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
 * AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
 * IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
 * ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
 * LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
 * CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
 * SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
 * INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
 * CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
 * ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
 * POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 *
 * Contributor(s):
 * sschaffe
 *
 * File Info:
 * User: sschaffe
 * Date: 2011/01/17
 * Time: 11:25
 *
 * Project: KiWi2, kiwi-core module
 */

package kiwi.core.api.io;

import kiwi.core.model.rdf.KiWiTriple;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.io.Writer;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * A KiWi serializer takes as argument a collection of triples and serialises them in the format implemented by the
 * serializer.
 *
 * <p/>
 * User: sschaffe
 */
public interface KiWiSerializer {

	/**
	 * Return all mimetypes that are accepted by this parser
	 * @return a list of mimetype strings
	 */
	public List<String> getProducedFormats();

    /**
     * Serialize a collection of triples using the serializer and return the result as a string that can be used for
     * further processing.
     *
     * @param triples an iterable containing the triples to be serialized
     * @return
     * @exception IOException
     */
    public String serializeTriples(Iterable<KiWiTriple> triples);


    /**
     * Serialize a collection of triples using the serializer and write them to the OutputStream given as argument.
     * May be used for more memory-efficient serialisation of big collections of triples.
     *
     * @param triples an iterable containing the triples to be serialized
     * @param out
     * @exception IOException
     */
    public void serializeTriples(Iterable<KiWiTriple> triples, OutputStream out) throws IOException;


    /**
     * Serialize a collection of triples using the serializer and write them to the Writer given as argument.
     * May be used for more memory-efficient serialisation of big collections of triples.
     *
     * @param triples an iterable containing the triples to be serialized
     * @param writer
     * @exception IOException
     */
    public void serializeTriples(Iterable<KiWiTriple> triples, Writer writer) throws IOException;

}
